


I Dare You To

by Kaoru_chibimaster



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Non-binary Xion, background namishi, not a smut fic but there's sex at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:28:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22647916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoru_chibimaster/pseuds/Kaoru_chibimaster
Summary: It was as simple as going next door and asking Roxas out.Except it wasn't that simple at all.
Relationships: Axel/Roxas (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 58





	I Dare You To

**Author's Note:**

> It feels funny to say this is just a silly thing I wrote for fun because I write all my fics for fun, but this one just kinda popped into my head in the middle of the night and demanded to be written. No planning or outline or anything. Just your average “hot neighbor AU” fic.

“Hey, Axel…”

“Uh huh?”

Xion, the “chillest roommate to have ever existed” (their words), propped their arm on the table, chin in their hand, as they waved around a chunky pickle with the other.

“How awkward would it be if I just deepthroated this pickle? Like, right here, right now.”

…Okay?

“After having put up with you walking around the place naked for two years, I doubt anything you do could get much more awkward.”

Well, mostly naked. Currently they were, at the very least, wearing those obnoxiously bright blue boxers with the smiling fluffy clouds.

“ _Excuse you_. Look in the mirror much?”

And okay, yeah it wasn’t like Axel was much better, but in his (and Xion’s, he guessed) defense, it was hot as sin outside and even with all the fans on max they were kinda suffering.

His boxers were cooler-looking than theirs though.

“Anyway, you don’t even like pickles.” He did not mean the food by that statement.

“I’m making a point.”

…Okaaay?

“Imagine,” they continued. “That you were the one holding this pickle. And it was Roxas’ pickle. Wouldn’t you want to deepthroat the pickle?”

“Why did this start with _you_ deepthroating the pickle—why is this a conversation in the first place?”

“I had to lead into the conversation _some_ way.”

“Xion…”

“Anyway, maybe if you stopped beating around the bush and actually asked Roxas out, you’d be deepthroating his pickle instead of eating up my mac and cheese.”

Axel pulled his bowl of mac and cheese towards his chest protectively, sticking his tongue out at his nosy roommate with their uncalled for commentary.

“Finders keepers. And you try to start this ‘conversation’ with me every five minutes. I get it, alright? I’ll ask him out eventually.”

Xion blew a frustrated puff of air into their obsidian bangs, crossing their arms with the pickle still held in a tight grip.

“I only start this conversation with you so often because it’s taken you a whole damn fourteen months to actually do it. He’s been our neighbor for almost as long as we’ve been here!”

And Axel had been crushing on him for just as long…

But he had his reasons for not saying anything yet! Xion didn’t have to be so pushy about it!

“I can ask him out whenever I want! Who said I had to rush?”

“Fine,” Xion smirked. “Then I dare you to. Right now. Go ask him on a date.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s, like, the _opposite_ of what I just fuckin’ said.”

“It’s not rushing if it’s been over a year,” they shrugged.

Running a hand over his face, it took a good deal of restraint not to just faceplant into his macaroni.

“Can you leave me alone about this? And stop playing with the pickles. Those are the good ones and they cost ‘good ones’ munny.”

Xion tipped their head back and sighed as if _they_ were the exasperated one.

“Yeah, that’s how I feel every time you bring this up.”

“That’s how I feel every time you screw yourself out of a good thing,” Xion mumbled, crunching on their pickle and finally leaving the issue be. It was a statement Axel chose to ignore in favor of finishing his dinner, but he couldn’t quite deny how it nestled into the back of his mind.

It’d be fine though. He’d get around to asking Roxas out.

Eventually.

-o-

“Hey, so… I’m gonna need you to find somewhere else to hang out today…” Xion casually dropped. They were picking at their nails, legs crossed under the table and expression plain. Fully dressed in a tank top, shorts and sneakers, as if they were headed out the door…to pick someone up maybe. Axel had a feeling he knew where this was going.

“Let me guess, Naminé coming to visit from Uni?”

That was usually the case when Xion looked like they were going out somewhere. It was a Saturday, midterms were over and a long weekend was coming up for the holiday. Normally Naminé’s visits amounted to a few hours of hanging out in the living room, doing whatever caught their attention, before she and Xion disappeared into Xion’s bedroom to hanky panky for a bit. Then she’d be back on the train to Twilight U the next morning. And considering that she was sharing a dorm with someone who had little regard for personal space, it wasn’t as if Xion could visit her for some alone time.

So long weekends like this usually meant Axel was getting sexiled.

Either that or he could stay and listen to them scream at each other like a couple of rutting wild animals, but that was absolutely the opposite of literally anything good he could be doing with his time.

“Fine,” he sighed. “What time does she get here?”

“About an hour. She just got on the train,” Xion said, tapping their phone where it was rested on the table. Axel’s gaze had only flickered down to it for a split second, but by the time he was looking up at Xion again, they were sporting a Cheshire cat grin.

He knew where that was going too.

“No,” he cut in preemptively. It didn’t stop them.

“Quit being a fraidy cat. It’d be a good way to get out of the house. Instead of harassing Isa like you usually do, you could ask Roxas out on a date for a few hours. It’d give me some alone time with Nami and you a date for the first time in three years.”

“Ugh,” Axel grimaced. “Did you have to put that out there?”

“C’mon man. The occasional late-night gay bar booty call isn’t gonna heal whatever’s still hurting from your last relationship.”

That was even worse. Axel really didn’t want to think about it.

No amount of pretending and feigning ignorance and looking the other way, no amount of love or forgiveness could really make up for the continued heartbreak going on there. It was hard to justify jumping into another relationship after, even if the “too soon” excuse started wearing thin as the years started passing by. But what did that matter? He was fine with being single! It was liberating, as far as he was concerned.

Until Roxas came along and set his little heart aflutter all over again.

It certainly explained why he was dragging his feet. Yes, it’d been a little over a year since he’d “known” Roxas (if that was even the proper word, since they hadn’t even progressed past the ‘small talk in front of the mailboxes’ stage) but Axel couldn’t help the apprehension. This was the first time in a while that he felt such an attraction to someone. It was, he could admit, a little bit scary.

He could handle it now because it was simply a crush. A physical interest in a short, cute blond guy with a nice body and a stunning smile. He didn’t know much about him and Roxas was such a quiet neighbor that he never had much of a chance to learn. Occasionally a group of his friends came bounding up the stairs to visit him and his apartment would be flooded with laughter on those days, but even that wasn’t much to go on.

But asking Roxas out? Taking the step forward necessary to get to know him more? Letting him in?

That was what held Axel back.

“Hey,” Xion grabbed his attention back, concern marring their features as their black eyebrows bunched together and a frown pulled at the corners of their mouth. “I don’t mean to be insensitive. I know that’s a sore subject. But I just want you to know, Axel: it’s okay to like someone again. Not everyone’s going to be like… _him_. And I talk to Roxas sometimes; he’s a pretty cool guy. Don’t let this pass you by, okay? At least try?”

“I don’t know…” Axel sighed, unsure. He _wanted_ to, but he didn’t know how to go into this without making a fool of himself. He kept thinking he’d do it later, he’d be ready then…

Would he really?

Xion stood from their chair, walking around the table to pat Axel’s shoulder in comfort. They leaned down until their eyes met Axel’s, and he was gifted with an encouraging smile and a playful wink.

“I know you can. Dare you to,” they grinned, clearly joking this time. With the dare, at least. It was good to know Xion had that sort of faith in him.

He didn’t get a chance to answer when Xion pulled away, grabbing their keys and wallet and stepping out.

“Be back later. We’re gonna go shopping when she gets here. And I gotta walk to the station so I might as well head out now.”

They didn’t really need to walk there, not when they could take the tram. But clearly they were giving Axel some space so he could sort himself out.

He waved a hand at Xion as they closed the door, sitting in silence as he tried to justify any valid reasons as to why he shouldn’t just march next door and ask Roxas out.

He could’ve not been home…but the walls were thin and Axel could hear someone moving around over there.

Maybe he wasn’t interested in company…but Axel wouldn’t know that without going over and knocking first.

He couldn’t even give the excuse of assuming Roxas wasn’t interested in men when he’d run into him at last year’s Pride, gleefully sporting rainbows. Hell, that would’ve been as good as any an opportunity to talk to him. Except Axel had been in the same predicament he was in now: twiddling his thumbs and finding excuses.

Ugh. He’d get nowhere with this, just like Xion said.

He ought to… He ought to get up and put some clothes on and waltz right out into that hallway to knock on 4B. That was _exactly_ what he was gonna do!

That was exactly what he did do! Decked out in a dark maroon button up and those black jeans that apparently looked damn good on him, he was out the door, key in hand so that he didn’t lock himself out…again, and standing in front of 4B with his fist raised and…! And…

And he paused. What was he doing? What was he thinking? What would he even say to Roxas? He got all blushy and quiet around him, even when they ran across each other at the mailboxes. He was sure that wasn’t going to change just because he was standing there now, looking like a complete idiot in front of Roxas’ door. He ought to go right back in his apartment and forget—

“—Yeah, I just need to go check the… Oh, hey!”

Oh no.

Oh no, no, no.

There he was in all his sunshine glory. All golden hair and bright blue eyes and dimply smiles. He had his phone up to his ear, dressed in a loose tank top and shorts and kicking on sneakers to go check whatever it was he was talking about, and Axel was over six feet of ‘awkwardly standing in his way’ and had no clue what to do other than wave.

“I’ll talk to you later, kay?” Roxas spoke into his phone before hanging up and tossing it…somewhere back inside. Axel assumed it was some soft surface since he didn’t hear anything crash.

“Give me a sec, I just gotta check my mail,” Roxas said, pulling out his mailbox key and slipping past Axel—because of course Axel was still standing there starstruck—and wandering downstairs for said mail. Axel continued to stand there awkwardly, still wondering what the hell he was doing, in the doorway of Roxas’ open apartment. He wanted to think that Roxas leaving his door open like that was dangerous, but then he knew he wasn’t going in there without permission and he wasn’t letting anyone not named Roxas in either. The merits of being a good neighbor.

He couldn’t deny peeking inside though.

It looked pretty homely. Not very unlike the layout of Axel and Xion’s apartment, it led into a kitchen walled off from what must’ve been a living room on the other side. Beyond that, a hallway led into what must’ve been bedrooms, bathrooms and closets. But there was a personal flair to it. Pictures taped to the fridge of friends and family. Colorful knickknacks and frequently used kitchenware adorned the counter surfaces. His phone probably landed on a dish towel, something that probably saw consistent use if he, like Axel and Xion, was missing a dishwasher. The sound of his tv even droned in the background, turned to what sounded like a movie just from the music score. Axel couldn’t quite tell which and didn’t have much time to figure it out when Roxas’ footsteps started echoing up the stairs.

Standing straight so that it no longer looked like he was snooping…well okay, so that he was no longer snooping, he looked over just in time to see Roxas jogging up the stairs with several envelopes in his hands. He looked like he’d barely broken a sweat too, which was more than a little admirable considering this godforsaken summer heat.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to leave you hanging,” he said, voice a little breathy despite having just climbed all those damn stairs.

Holy shit he was in shape.

Axel tried not to let that thought force his eyes to trail any lower than Roxas’ face.

“It’s, uh…” Rubbing the back of his neck, Axel found himself looking anywhere but Roxas in general as he tried to construct a coherent response. “It’s fine. I did kinda show up unannounced after all.”

“That’s okay,” Roxas shrugged. He was quiet for a moment, and Axel couldn’t help but peer at him in the lull. He was chewing on his bottom lip actually, eyes a bit vacant as he seemed to be unsure of what to say next. That was strangely comforting, honestly. To know that Roxas was as unsure of where to go from here as Axel made him a little calmer.

Just a little. He was still flipping a mental shit that he was even standing here, in Roxas’ doorway, doing his best impression of a tomato.

“So, um…” they both started in unison, leading them to blink at each other in surprise before bursting into giggles. Axel held out his hand to Roxas in a ‘you first’ gesture, waiting for him to recover before he spoke again.

He did so with a certain style to it. A natural charm. Roxas ran his palm over his hair, pushing his bangs back for a second before they fell back over his eyes. He leaned against the door jamb on his elbow, the other hand at his hip as his mail hung loosely between his fingertips, and somehow it all flowed so smoothly that Axel couldn’t begin to fathom how the entire thing looked like it came out of a romcom and still worked.

And Roxas, still chewing his lip, peeked up at Axel through those golden bangs and asked with those pink, abused lips:

“You wanna come in?”

Uhhh…

“Wh—is that okay?” What a dumb question to ask. Roxas wouldn’t have invited him in if it wasn’t.

He couldn’t quite help how tripped up he got around Roxas though.

“Of course it’s okay,” Roxas chuckled (and hot damn, that was a laugh that could light up a room). “Come on in.”

With that, he turned on his heel and headed back into his apartment, leaving the door open with the expectation that Axel would close it behind himself when he stepped in.

So that was what he did.

It felt like stepping through a barrier. Like something sacred had just been breached. A nonsensical thought, he knew, but he couldn’t quite help it. This was unknown territory, and suddenly every little homely thing that Axel had peeped at was now intimidating. Like he was being judged by the atmosphere itself.

It should’ve been a ridiculous thought, but this was so far removed from Axel’s routine that he was essentially splashing in water that was just a little too uncomfortably deep.

He said he’d do this though. No stopping now.

“You want anything to eat? Drink?” Roxas offered, standing by his sink where he’d set his mail down on the counter and grabbed his phone off of—ah, Axel had guessed right—a bundled up dish towel.

Dry as his throat was, there was no reason for Axel to decline that offer, awkwardness be damned. That was what caused the dryness in the first place.

“What do you have?”

“Uhh…” Roxas trailed off, stepping over to his fridge to check what was inside. “Depends on what you’re looking for. I’ve got water bottles, some cola cans, that paopu-flavored fruit juice that my brother likes, and I think that’s an apple juice box in the back but I have no clue how that got there.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother,” Axel said as he walked over to lean against the wall beside the fridge, thinking on his choices.

“Yeah, I used to room with him until he got married. Decided to move here after,” Roxas explained, still rifling through his fridge. “If you want something alcoholic, I’m gonna have to disappoint you. There’s maybe like half a shot left of that cherry vodka from my birthday, but I haven’t exactly been aching for booze with no one to drink with so I don’t buy it a lot.”

“That’s fine,” Axel waved him off. “I’m a weeny when it comes to drinking anyway, so you’d only end up with my drunk ass slobbering on your floor.”

Roxas snorted at that and Axel felt an odd sense of accomplishment from it.

“I’ll be fine with a soda, if that’s alright,” he continued, trying not to grin too widely. Roxas pulled out two cans and handed him one, nodding towards the living room before walking around Axel and disappearing behind the wall.

This felt…personal. More than Axel just asking him out at his doorway, this felt familiar. Close and cozy, like two friends who were just hanging out like it was any other day.

Not that Axel could _forget_ his raging crush on Roxas, but it helped to think of it that way if only to set the crush aside and let himself relax.

With that, and a determined nod to himself, Axel followed Roxas into his living room.

Roxas had plopped himself down on the frayed black couch pushed up against the far wall, can of cola already opened, smiling invitingly at Axel before turning his attention to his tv. Curious, Axel turned to see what it was he was watching. It was an old movie, that was for sure. Not _old_ old, at least nothing from before Axel’s time, but cheesy and with enough poor camera quality to look like it might’ve released when he was in grade school. The costumes were certainly fantasy-esque and the dialogue was Ye Olde Hootenanny. Looked like it was still near the beginning too.

It looked a bit familiar, but Axel couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“What movie are you watching?” he asked, settling beside Roxas on the couch. His coffee table was more than a little cluttered but thankfully there was a tiny spot for him to set his soda.

“I’m currently nerding out over Vagrant Story,” Roxas admittedly, grinning sheepishly. Oh, so that was what it was. Wow. Axel hadn’t seen that one since it was in _theaters_. It was certainly nothing to be ashamed of though. Axel only hesitated for a moment before deciding it would do no harm to pat Roxas’ arm reassuringly.

“That’s an old one. I take it you like the Ivalice Series?”

Roxas looked up at Axel in utter surprise and Axel couldn’t quite hold back his amused grin. As far as he considered it, this was a win in his book. He’d loved the Ivalice stories since he was a kid, so knowing that Roxas enjoyed it too and it was something they could bond over was the perfect stepping stone. Being familiar with the series was about as effective as tattooing “I’m a fantasy geek” to one’s forehead, but that was a win in Axel’s book anyway. His like for Roxas just increased tenfold by this new information alone.

Though this movie was _old_ and Axel hadn’t seen it in years. Hadn’t even recognized it at first. It’d certainly double as a bit of a nostalgia trip, and he’d mostly likely end up nerding about it alongside Roxas.

“Yeah,” Roxas nodded enthusiastically, an adorably excited smile on his face. “Wanna watch it with me?”

That was a no brainer.

“You kidding? Of course I do!”

-o-

“—Everyone complains that it’s too political, but I think it’s a fresh experience,” Roxas explained, having gesticulated his point almost as well as he spoke it. Not that Axel was any less animated, waving his hand as he shook his head.

“No, I don’t think the problem is that it’s too political. I think the problem is that it tries to use that Vaan kid as an audience proxy, but he’s too annoying to relate to.”

“He’s not _that_ bad. Besides, he lost his whole family. I think he could use a break.”

“Eh,” Axel shrugged. “I’d feel sorrier for him if he was real. But as a character, I think some criticism is deserved. If Princess Ashe was the main character from the get-go—”

“Well, she technically is,” Roxas cut in. “But she’s not relatable enough to excuse dropping Vaan and Penelo.”

“Yeah, but relatable and likeable are two different things. Plus it’s hard to call them relatable when they’re both living in some extreme circumstances themselves. Especially after the Imperial occupation.”

They’d been at this for about an hour now, having stopped paying attention to the movie to instead start a debate on the various Ivalice plotlines. It’d gone from discussions of worldbuilding, first related to Vagrant Story until it trailed off into a broader spectrum, to discussions of Ramza and Delita’s circumstances, to arguments over whether _Grimoire_ was a necessary sequel, enjoyability beside, to debates over the political nature of _Zodiac_. In the background, Rosencrantz’s overly long monologue about the rich droned on but the volume had been turned low as their focus had quickly drifted from the tv to each other.

“Sure but personally I still find them more down to earth than a bunch of aristocrats.”

“And two sky pirates.”

“And two sky pirates,” Roxas conceded.

“Here.” Axel held out his hand for a truce. They’d be arguing for the rest of the night if they really got into it, and that’d put a stop to Axel’s plans real quick. He hadn’t forgotten them, after all. He’d simply…put them off for a bit. “Let’s agree to disagree. Besides, it’s still a good trilogy of movies anyway.”

Smiling, Roxas shook his hand in agreement.

“You’re right, it is. Although I don’t know if it would count as a _trilogy_ …”

“ _First_ trilogy then.”

Axel only barely caught Roxas nodding before his eyes shut automatically as he yawned. That time of day, he supposed. As good a time as ever to throw the invitation out there.

“We should do this again sometime.”

There. It’d slipped out so easily that Axel was barely aware he’d even said it.

“Sure thing,” Roxas agreed. “I mean, as long as you’re game enough to listen to me geek out for another hour.”

“Heh. As long as you’re game to listen to _me_ geek out too, I think we’re squared.”

“Good…”

They lapsed into a silence then, filled only with the sounds of medieval dialogue and metal armor clanking, and Axel wasn’t eager to let the awkwardness from earlier settle back in.

It sounded like they had a date set, even if it hadn’t been explicitly called such, and he could work with that. Better to get going so they could go into said date fresh faced and ready to talk more.

“I should probably get going then—” Axel started, standing up from his seat and getting ready to stretch…

When Roxas reached out and grabbed his shirt to stop him.

“Wait!”

Raising an eyebrow, Axel looked down at Roxas in surprise. He figured he’d get a goodbye, maybe even a “see ya tomorrow”, but this was a bit unexpected.

“What’s up?”

“I don’t—I mean… You don’t have to leave yet.” Roxas’ grip tightened on Axel’s shirt, his face burning as he stared at his fingers instead of looking Axel in the eyes. A far cry from the natural ease and confidence he’d displayed up until now. “You can stay for a bit. If you want to, that is.”

“I mean, sure but…” Axel glanced at the clock on the end table, taking note of how it was well into dusk now. “It’s getting kinda late. You sure you’re okay with that?”

“I’m fine with it. I’m not trying to kick you out.”

His fingers finally uncurled from the wrinkled fabric, gaze low as his shoulders hunched a bit in defense.

“Like I said, though, if you don’t want to…”

“No,” Axel cut in. “I want to.”

He sat back down on the couch next to Roxas, leaning on his knees as he watched the tension start to melt from Roxas’ shoulders. He really was as nervous about this as Axel was.

Axel didn’t want him to be. He loved that comfortable atmosphere from before.

He wanted that again.

“So… Whadya wanna do?” He was open to another movie, but at this time of day he might end up falling asleep to it. Probably best not to lay that out on the table as the first choice.

Roxas, for his part, was biting his lip again, watching Axel with wide, innocent baby blues.

“…I do have an idea.”

“Oh yeah?” Axel grinned disarmingly, holding his arms wide. “Lay it on me.”

-o-

Holy shit.

Wow, okay, _holy shit_.

Somewhere in between the bed springs creaking and a mixture of heavy breaths and quiet moans, Axel was trying to figure out how his pants ended up around his ankles, laid out across a bed covered with what he was fairly certain was a meow wow comforter when he’d glanced at it, dick out, wrapped up and lubed up and currently balls deep inside his neighbor who was riding it like a damn professional. He couldn’t really back up and pick out details, not when his fingers were twitching, gripped into warm, flushed hips. Not when his own jerked up of their own accord, sloppily and unevenly trying to match Roxas’ rhythm. Not when Roxas, head thrown back, eyes shut and mouth opened in a perfect “O”, bounced on his cock with a vigor that Axel almost envied. Operating on leg strength alone for a good moment before leaning forward to brace his hands against Axel’s chest, slipping slightly on the film of sweat that gathered beneath where his shirt had been bunched up under his chin, and rolling his hips _perfectly_. Sparks of pleasure traveled Axel’s length, pooling in his groin and racing up and down his spine. Teeth gritted, body heated, expression scrunched with pleasure…

There was no room for thoughts. Those could wait until after he came.

Damn, he was close too. Gripping Roxas’ hips tighter and pumping up into him deeper, earning shuddering moans and praises of “fuck you’re so good” and “fuck you’re so _big_ ” that added a gratified flush to his already reddened skin. It was a personal sort of ‘claim to fame’ for him, despite having not done much besides go through puberty to achieve it, but somehow hearing _Roxas_ say it had his brain jumbling.

Body buzzing, limbs trembling, Axel was lost in the moment. Mindlessly thrusting his hips with each grind of Roxas’. Each change of pace, of intensity. Feeling the pleasure roll over him in waves, each one rougher than the last until they were crashing against him as Roxas rode him harder, and his spine was curling, voice caught in his throat, when he finally released into the condom. Roxas was still working him, a hand having abandoned one of Axel’s pecs to the inexplicably colder air to reach down and stroke himself to his own orgasm.

It was a bit overwhelming when Roxas came. Just the sight of it alone was something else; all pink skin and spatters of white pooling on Axel’s stomach. And the _feel_ of him, clenched tightly around Axel as his hips continued to twitch in an attempt to chase his pleasure. The sound of him, breathless and airy when he groaned Axel’s name, alongside a hodgepodge of incoherent, messy strings of words. A series of expletives and a final, quiet, shivering moan.

Only then did he pull off. Axel was thankful for it; he wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle much more of that. Overstimulation wasn’t really his thing.

It wasn’t as if they needed to go that far anyway. Considering how he was still riding high on the aftermath of some pretty fucking great sex with his pretty fucking hot neighbor, nothing else was needed to make the experience any more satisfying.

Well…aside from maybe confirmation that there’d be a lot more than just this to look forward to. He _hoped_ there’d be.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb here…” Axel started, still panting as he sat up slowly and shakily before ridding himself of the condom, tying it in a knot and tossing it in the little trashcan by the doorway. “…and assume that this means you do actually want to date me?”

There wasn’t any guarantee of that, vague as their earlier wording had been, so Axel was taking a chance there by making that assumption…but it couldn’t have been anymore ballsy than when he first knocked on the door. Considering where that led him, he figured now was as good a time as any to ask.

Roxas, having flopped onto the bed and rolled onto his back—whadya know, that _was_ a meow wow comforter—sighed and ran a hand through his sweat soaked hair.

“I thought that was kinda obvious…” he trailed off. Axel shrugged in response.

“You coulda just left this at a one-night stand. Or, I don’t know, a friends with benefits kinda thing.” The latter being more likely considering how well they’d hit it off in the living room.

“Yeah, but I’m not into that. I wouldn’t have fucked you if I wasn’t planning on dating you.”

Blunt, but it got the point across. Axel couldn’t help the smile that quirked at the corner of his lips.

“Works for me. ‘S why I’m here, after all.” Not that he was complaining about the impromptu sex, because he _definitely wasn’t_ , but he had been hoping to get to know Roxas more.

“Good. Wanna get cleaned up and go somewhere for dinner then?” Roxas smiled back.

“Wha—at this time of night? Not that I’m declining, but…”

Then again, what was really so strange about that? There was always the cliché of ‘let’s go out Saturday night and do something extravagant’ but there was nothing wrong with them going out for dinner at too-late-to-eat-dinner-o’clock after having spent a good chunk of the evening chattering on the couch. And then another good chunk of it fucking.

“…Yeah, I guess… Late night dinner works. Sounds great, actually!”

That giddiness was back. The sort that made Axel feel like the teenage protagonist of some cheesy musical where she laid herself out across the bed on her stomach, feet kicking in the air and a phone at her ear, gossiping about how the local popular boy gave her his class ring or some such. It was kinda ridiculous, but it fit. Roxas brought out something in Axel, something youthful and excited that he couldn’t quite explain. Something he wanted to see through.

So yeah, dinner tonight sounded perfect. And the next date, and the date after. Those sounded perfect too.

“Cool. We can go to the bistro and pretend we’re fancy-pants enough to actually belong there.”

Axel couldn’t help but laugh at that. He was sure his collection of tattoos alone would scare off half the staff. The two of them together ranting exuberantly about nerdy shit? The perfect combination for being judged into oblivion.

He was looking forward to it.

“It’s a date then.”

-o-

“Stop grinning at me.”

Xion did not, in fact, stop grinning at Axel. Instead, they grinned harder.

“No way. I’m glad you finally did it. Took ya long enough.”

Behind them, Naminé tittered quietly. Axel sent a mock glare at her too.

“Happy now, Pushy?”

“Incredibly. I told you Roxas was a cool guy. How long did it take before you both nerded all over each other? I know he either sucked you in with the Ivalice movies or the FNC shows.”

Wait, he watched FNC? Axel would have to log that away for later—wait, but hang on!

“How the hell did you know that?”

Xion rolled their eyes, throwing their arms up and sending a look of disbelief at their girlfriend, earning a shrug in return.

“I told you,” Xion sighed, returning their attention to Axel. “I _actually talk_ to Roxas. He’s basically perfect for you.”

Well. Shit.

“Why’d it take me fourteen months to figure this out,” Axel groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. Xion patted his back sympathetically.

“It’s okay. Your looks make up for your brains.”

“… _Thanks_.”

“Of course!”

Axel nudged them off playfully with a wry grin before it settled into a softer smile.

“Seriously though. Thanks. I guess I needed that push.”

Xion smiled back, warm and soft and proud.

“Of course. I wanna see you happy, you know?”

Heh. It was such a simple thing. The sort of thing one would expect any friend to say. Didn’t stop the sap from gathering in Axel’s chest though.

“And besides,” they continued. “You two have been pining after each other for far too long. At this point, it was about time one of you made the first move.”

Wait, what?

“Two…?”

“Yeah,” Naminé pitched in. “We’ve been trying to get Roxas to ask you out for just as long. He was crushing pretty hard ever since he moved in over there.”

Wha—

“What the fuck.”

“It’d have blown it if I told you earlier,” Xion cackled.

Damn it. All this time…

He should’ve just said something in the first place.

**Author's Note:**

> Bonus:
> 
> "When you said invite him over and seduce him, I didn't think it'd _actually work_ ," Roxas sighed, stretching a bit to work out the aches. He and Axel might've ended up having a little too much fun even after their dinner date.
> 
> Xion only laughed at him.
> 
> "It took a bit of effort on both your parts. I'm surprised you went with Vagrant Story though. He's always liked The Zodiac Age more; figured you'd put that one on," they shrugged, smiling easily.
> 
> "Yeah, we ended up talking about Zodiac the most. But your advice worked either way... Guess I gotta thank you somehow."
> 
> "I accept payment in sea salt ice cream."
> 
> Yeah, alright. It was a small price to pay for how big of a favor Xion did him.


End file.
